Their inspiration comes from Europe and comic geniuses such as Charlie Capelin and Marcel Marceau. The group, called the Rainbow Theater and best known for their touring show Ball on a String, a mixture of clowning, magic and live music, actually hails from Australia, although led by a Frenchman, Leo Bonne.
Bonne will be leading his five-person group for a 10-day tour of Taiwan which will take in major venues such as Taipei and Kaohsiung, but also make the more unexpected detours to Chiayi and Tainan. "We like to play in some of the smaller places," Bonne said in a telephone interview with the Taipei Times from the group's home in Sydney.
The group has taken its clowning show all around Europe and Australia, and has toured Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan and New Caledonia in Asia. This will be its first visit to Taiwan.
According to Bonne, the group brings together elements from the most traditional aspects of clowning such as mime, but combines this with more specifically child oriented elements such as balloon sculpture, with Bonne said is popular with audiences all over the world.
"Although we draw inspiration from masters such as Marcel Marceau, we do not do exactly the same thing. More importantly, we make use of props, so that the idea is easier to follow [than in pure mime]," said Bonne, a graduate of the Annie Fratellini Circus School in Paris.
Another element that Bonne says differentiates Bonne and his group from traditional circus is that the show involves considerable audience participation. Unfortunately for the shows in Taiwan, the group will be using pre-recorded music, rather than the live music that distinguished for Ball on a String. "You have less space to improvise," Bonne said. "With live music, if you have a really good volunteer from the audience, you can keep him or her on stage for quite a long time. The timing now [in the upcoming show] is a little more restricted."
Bonne describes the show as a cabaret , with many different segments including mime, juggling with various implements (including juggling chefs who perform with food), magic tricks, fire dances and even a fakir show.
For all that, Bonne expects a strong response from local audiences. "Sometimes it takes people a little time to get into what we are doing," he said. "This happens even in Australia, because of our European roots. But once people realize what is going on, they really get into it."
Leo Bonne and his group will open their tour of Taiwan with two shows at Taipei's Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall at 7:30pm tomorrow and 2:30pm Sunday. This will be followed by shows at Hsinchu, Chiayi, Tainan, Taichung and Kaohsiung. Tickets cost between NT$300 to NT$800 and are available from ERA ticketing outlets.
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